Australian shares lifted at lunchtime as a moderate sell-off in the big banks lost steam and online property retailer REA Group extended a two-day rally.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 8.3 points, or 1 per cent, at lunchtime to 8529 following a volatile morning session. The index is less than 25 points from hitting an all-time high. Six of the index’s 11 sectors were higher, led by communications services stocks, while energy and healthcare dragged.

The index had opened lower as investors took profits on the previous session’s gains and awaited January’s US jobs data to assess the potential for further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve with caution. Banks retreated, then moderated at lunchtime. Commonwealth Bank reset a record for the second consecutive day, rising 0.2 per cent. NAB gained 0.6 per cent and Westpac 0.4 per cent.

REA Group also pulled the index from its slump, rising 3.2 per cent. Traders continued piling in to the stock on Friday after the company posted a strong set of results that saw revenue jump 20 per cent year-on-year.

Healthcare stocks weighed, with ResMed slumping 2.9 per cent and CSL down 0.8 per cent. Energy stocks pared some losses after a volatile trading session for oil prices overnight. Brent crude was down 0.9 per cent at lunchtime, approaching $US74 a barrel. On the ASX, Santos fell 0.4 per cent and Woodside rose 0.3 per cent.

Stocks on the move

In corporate news, Domino’s Pizza shares leapt 21.5 per cent after the company announced the closure of 205 loss-making stores, mostly in Japan.

Nick Scali shares rocketed 13.1 per cent after the company posted net profit of $36 million for the half-year to December, exceeding guidance.

Sigma Healthcare rose 5.1 per cent after it upgraded full-year guidance for earnings before interest and tax, pointing to a boost from its Chemist Warehouse supply contract to business performance. The merger of the two companies is set to complete this month.

And a wave of profit taking hit News Corp on Friday following its rally in the prior session – even as Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight on the stock. The shares fell 4 per cent.